St Thomas Mount is just 5 km away from Velachery. 4.5 km of elevated railway has been constructed the balance 500m remains unfinished due to litigation on the part of property owners demanding higher prices.

In an address on the future of car and urban mobility at the Chennai International Centre, renowned technocrat Dr. V Sumantran referred to the need for strong focus on public transportation. Due to lack of coordination between the railway and bus transport, Chennai’s record in this matter has been dismal.

In the 1980s Chennai pioneered in India the elevated railway system, MRTS, the mass rapid transport system. In the first phase, 8.55 km was constructed from Chennai Beach to Mylapore. The original estimate of around Rs. 55 crore liberally overshot and ended with Rs. 269 crore due to much delayed construction.

Extension of this again got stuck with the state government treating it as a Central project and refusing to share a portion of the cost. At the Economic Editors’ Conference 1987, railway minister Madhavrao Scindia stressed on the state’s participation in urban projects of specific benefits to a metro. I raised this with then chief minister M G Ramachandran at his post-budget press conference. But the chief minister held that it was a Central project which has to be its responsibility.

Maharashtra agreed to this condition. It constructed the Rs. 350 crore Thane-Belapur railway project in just four years, contributing a third of the cost. President R Venkataraman inaugurated it. The Tamil Nadu government relented later and over tim, extended it to Velachery. Of course, prices escalated, and we ended up spending Rs. 769 crore.

Vital missing link...

The original plan was to connect Velachery with St Thomas Mount just 5 km away. Of this around 4.5 km has been constructed, the small balance portion remains unfinished due to litigation on the part of property owners demanding ever increasing prices.

The convenience and comfort lost can be imagined: by connecting this stretch with St Thomas Mount on the old Beach-Tambaram section, already connected with the Chennai Metro Rail Corporation, there can be a convenient rail connectivity to Adayar, Mylapore or Triplicane from any point on the other two lines.

Rs 36 by CMRL: Rs 7 by bus…

There are other anomalies: vast differences in pricing tickets by the Indian Railway, (suburban and MTRS), CMRL and the state-run metro bus transport corporation: the CMRL charges Rs. 36 for travel from Anna Nagar to Ekkattuthangal. The parallel bus service is priced Rs. 7.

I had pointed to such a difference when the MRTS commenced operations in the 1980s: from Triplicane to Chennai Beach, MRTS priced its ticket at Rs. 2 while the state metro transport corporation’s fare was 50 paise. The result: MRTS services had poor custom, resulting in a low frequency of service and consequent poor revenues.

Price conscious commuter...

It must be admitted that the Indian commuter is price- conscious. Delhi Metro increased the fares twice during 2017; each time ridership suffered a sharp decline. Following the fare hike in June, daily ridership dropped from 26.5 lakh in May to 25.7 lakh in June. When the fare was increased again in October, the daily ridership declined from the average of 27.4 lakh in September to 24.2 lakh in October. This drop of over 3 lakh (11 per cent) for October, highlights the price factor in commuter’s number.

True, metro rail systems are built with huge investments. But, this form of transport run on electricity transferring large number of people is environmentally more beneficial. Remember automobile transport has been a major contributor to pollution levels in Delhi that hit the roof during October – November?

Low occupancy, low frequency, low revenue, low ROI and higher fare...

Look also at the vicious circle -high fare of the metro rail leads to lower occupancy/demand, lower frequency of services, lower revenue and lower return on investment requiring a higher fare. At least in the initial years, it would make sense to offer low fares, build custom, increase frequency and ensure better turnaround of the rolling stock. Gaining familiarity with shorter travel time and higher comfort levels, commuters would be willing to pay more for the better service and greater comfort.

Dr. Sumantran pointed to the underground and elevated transit systems involving massive investments and hence for years the return on investments will be miserable. He pointed to the hefty subsidies involved private ownership of cars and to the liberal funding support extended by urban transport administrations worldwide. The trade-off lies in much less pollution to the environment, speed of service, more elegant and comfort of travel and much-reduced traffic congestion on the roads. Other metros have realised this, but not Chennai.

Plethora of uncoordinated services

Look at the present state of three different public transport authorities involved in the metro’s commuter traffic – state-run bus transport, the Indian Railway and the CMRL with little coordination among these.

In 1990-91 for the CMDA – Times Research Foundation Studies I suggested a plan to take the focus away from the automobile. Unlike Delhi, roads in Chennai metro are much narrower with little manoeuvrability for widening and the land expensive. I suggested concentrating on constructing 100 km of surface rail transport and another 100 km of underground rail system to be completed by 2011. With the change in government in 1991, the plan was allowed to gather dust. What Chennai failed to do Delhi did under E Sridharan. Delhi Metro today has been built over 218 km and is further expanding.

It’s time administrators expedite the formation of a single urban transport authority and optimize the facilities created. - SV

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